In today's marketplace, businesses and other entities use various computer software applications to aid in their day-to-day activities. These software applications are often designed with a specific set of functionality and offered as a complete package by software vendors. Whether for keeping track of employee time and attendance, providing online airline travel planning, or for any other service involving user input and selection, these software applications can greatly increase a company's efficiency and profitability. In some instances, these applications—typically referred to as self-service applications—form the centerpiece of a company's business, such as the business activities of an online vendor. In other situations, self-service applications merely aid in more peripheral areas, such as operations or payroll. In either case, self-service applications are widely used and can be costly to build and implement.
In view of the high cost of building individual self-service applications for each business customer, there is a need for a customizable framework for configuring self-service applications. Moreover, there is a need for solutions to customize applications in a modification-free way or manner in which all adjustments made by a customer are stored separately, such as in a separate customer-namespace on a customer's server(s).